It is that time of the year, pumpkins are everywhere. In the past I was not a fan of everything...

Pantry to Plate Recipes

Ze's Crock-pot Mac N Cheese

With the summer upon us, sometimes cooking over a hot stove is the last thing we want to do, yet you and your family still need to eat! Deciding what to eat is not always a simple task, who wants burgers, who wants chicken, oh heck, let's just go out and grab something. Well no more! This super simple, super yummy, Mac n Cheese done in the crockpot will have your family wanting leftovers. It's certainly filling enough to eat by itself, or just dice up a cool salad and maybe some fresh fruit and you'll have a nutritious and delicious meal.

Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients

1 (16oz) box dried elbow or small shell macaroni

½ cup salted butter

1 teaspoon of Montreal steak seasoning

2 cups cheddar cheese, hand shredded (don’t use pre-shredded cheese)

2 (5oz) cans evaporated milk

2 eggs, well beaten

1 cup whole milk

1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup, (I actually make my own version, I shared it below.)

Directions

Turn your crockpot on to high. Cook pasta according to package directions, be careful not to overcook pasta. You really want your pasta more al dente as it will continue to cook in the crockpot. Spray the inside of your crockpot with nonstick spray or use a crockpot liner, you will thank me later. Drain pasta and transfer to crock pot.

Add butter and seasoning to pasta, stir until butter is melted. Add ½ of shredded cheese and continue to stir. Whisk eggs and evaporated milk together and stir into pasta. In another bowl combine cheese soup and remaining milk, once combined add to pasta and stir.

Pour soup into pasta, stir, and sprinkle mixture with remaining shredded cheese. Turn crock pot to low and cook for 2.5 to 3 hours. Cheese will have melted and the edges will be golden brown.

Ze's Cheddar cheese sauce recipe

To make your own cheese sauce: Melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a saucepan and add 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and whisk together until smooth. Remove pan from heat gradually add 1 cup of milk to butter mixture while whisking. Once combined return to heat, continue to whisk slowly add 1 cup of cheese until melted (I do this in thirds). Add to macaroni and cheese instead of the condensed soup and milk mixture.